Anyone who's old enough to remember going to downtown Syracuse at Christmas might appreciate this column from six years ago, which recalls the heyday of the monorail at Edwards:

November 24, 2000 Friday

A ONE-TRACK MEMORY OF CHRISTMAS

Sean Kirst, Post-Standard columnist

Eric Koch grew up in Verona Beach. As a little boy, he looked forward to one special Yuletide trip. His parents would bundle him up for a drive to Syracuse. They would walk the downtown sidewalks and admire elaborate displays in the store windows, while Eric waited for the treat he wanted most:

The children's monorail at E.W. Edwards department store. It circled shoppers crowded in the "Toyland" aisles. Known as the "rocket ship," it circled Santa Claus on his special throne.

"Every year, we would go into Syracuse at Christmas to shop," Koch said. "To me, that was a very big city. I remember going to the different department stores, and walking in the snow, and going to Edwards to ride the monorail. I bet I was 5 or 6, and it was a fixed frame, and you rode it and looked down into the toy department."

As an adult, Koch went into marketing and consulting. He still finds something special, something compelling, in the combination of downtown crowds and window displays, in Christmas lights and falling snow. This year, Koch made thousands of nostalgic baby boomers happy by announcing the return of the Christmas monorail.

In Rochester.

"When I moved here, I discovered the people in Rochester had that same great memory of riding the monorail at the Midtown Mall," Koch said. "That was one reason I decided to bring it back. The other reason is that it makes sound business sense. For Midtown, it's a hallmark of the season. Even in the last year (1996), it drew 40,000 kids."

Koch, 48, is a special consultant in Rochester to the historic mall. Designed by architect Victor Gruen - considered the father of the American shopping mall - Midtown was America's first true enclosed downtown shopping center. But the mall went bankrupt in the late 1990s.

With the big stores gone, the monorail was discontinued.

That ride returns Dec. 2, thanks to Koch. "We can't compete with the suburban malls. They're just bigger than we are," Koch said. "What we're really honing in on is a real downtown market, both tourist and residential. What's so significant about the monorail here is that families have connections, going back a long time."

Koch understands. He has an identical connection with downtown Syracuse.
"A lot of people seem to hit on the monorail as one of the great memories of Christmas," said Robert Rodormer, 66, of Skaneateles, former president of Edwards department store.

According to Dick Smith of Camillus, the final president of Edwards, the monorail was leased from a company in Florida. It went into operation sometime after World War II, meaning it may have even inspired the almost identical version in Rochester. Children rode in an elevated circle around Edwards' "Toyland," shouting to Santa as they passed his throne, swinging through a "tunnel" punched in the store wall.

It was an annual piece of Christmas in Central New York. Families would come downtown for the Edwards mechanical window displays, for the monorail, for breakfast with Santa. To Koch, that seasonal magic always stayed with him: crunching through the snow, the tall bright buildings, Santa Claus ...

The monorail.

"A lot of kids would come in with squirt guns, and go up on the monorail, and then let shoppers have it," Rodormer recalled. "People always told me they came downtown at Christmas just to see the window displays. Now, I guess, maybe that would be old hat. But it really hurts to see the lack of excitement downtown, primarily in the people."

The old Edwards was demolished in 1972. Christmas in the city was never quite the same, Rodormer said, except for the annual tree lighting, scheduled for tonight.

Koch's decision in Rochester makes you wonder. Could a "retro" Yuletide monorail - in the Galleries or the MOST or even in some big and empty commercial space - spark a holiday revival? Would the grown "children" who rode it years ago flock back, with their own kids?

Maybe. Maybe if it was accompanied by other new displays and attractions, by artists and vendors selling gifts you won't find in any mall, by elaborate lighting that would make people want to walk the streets. Koch has been around. Retail is his business. Yet if you want his most elemental memory of Christmas, the childhood place where he really lived and felt the holiday ...

It was here, in downtown Syracuse, riding the monorail.

Sean Kirst is a columnist with The Post-Standard. His columns appear Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Call him at 470-6015 or e-mail him at citynews@syracuse.com.